Tackling common challenges in working within the Mental Capacity Act

The Mental Capacity Act provides the legal framework for assessing capacity and making best interests decisions for adults who are vulnerable and lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. Although the Act’s test for capacity appears straight forward, applying it in more complex situations can be tricky. This seminar will examine some of the most common challenges when assessing capacity and explore ways of tackling these challenges.

Specific topics that will be covered:

• Dealing with fluctuating capacity;
• Applying the functional test of capacity and how to establish whether a person can really weigh the relevant information or not;
• Understanding the difference between unwise decisions made with capacity and incapacitated decisions making;
• Completing remote capacity assessments; and
• What to do when a person refuses to engage in the capacity assessments itself.

Elmari Bishop, Mental Capacity Act consultant and lecturer, Bournemouth University